Who You Calling Nimrod?

Dear Bay Weekly

In Mr. Doyle’s Dec. 3 column he refers to “nimrod” deer hunters.  I would like a clarification on his meaning. Is he referring to King Nimrod of the Old Testament who was described as a great hunter and an evil, murderous monarch, or just some derogatory adjective describing us sportsmen and conservationists who enjoy deer hunting? Or maybe he meant NIMROD: Naturally Instinctive Men Reducing the Overpopulation of Deer.  I doubt it.  No, I believe he meant some negative connotation which to me seems small and out of place in this otherwise delightful publication.

–Brett Morrison, North Beach Park

Dennis Doyle’s reply: As a writer and a hunter I have long used the term nimrod with a positive connotation. Classical sporting literature has applied the term in the same fashion back to Faulkner and beyond.

 The earliest mention of the word occurs in Genesis, as you stated, and gets roughly translated as “Nimrod, a mighty hunter in the eyes of the Lord.” From there Nimrod ran afoul of zealous Biblical scholars. I do not believe, however, that this situation has tainted the current use of the term.

A modern tendency toward nimrod and negativity possibly began in the early 1940s with the cartoon character, Bugs Bunny. Bugs delighted in endlessly outwitting and humiliating an overly earnest, inexperienced hunter by the name of Elmer Fudd, who he often referred to as “a poor little nimrod.”

Having been humiliated as well by a number of rabbits as I grew up hunting them in Pennsylvania, I developed a certain fellowship with Elmer.

Perhaps this is the reason I continue to use the rather outdated term in the way I do. It is in solidarity with Elmer and the firm belief that in the end, hunting is a noble pursuit and without its desire and skills embedded deeply and irrevocably in our genes, we would still be huddled, hungry, cold and terrified in our caves.